Defining what is language is tricky and even the experts disagree. I’ve been using the term “animal language” this week as a convenient convention.
But at this point, it may be worth bringing up the question: what is it that sets human language apart from animal language?
There’s a few things we might discuss: it seems animals can’t learn to use abstract words beyond their conceptual capacity, like “economy”; their sentences lack grammatical orderliness; they don’t tend to negate or justify, by, for example, saying no or asking/answering why, which is necessary for basic logic; and they don’t exhibit normativity, which is an understanding that how you constructed your sentence is wrong or you know that you don’t know how to construct it correctly.
Scientists tell us that a mutation in the FOXP2 gene, the so-called “language gene”, partially allowed for the development of much more sophisticated and complex language abilities in anatomically modern humans. They say, it’s unrealistic to expect animals with an older version of that gene to communicate with the linguistic complexity humans do. This is not to mention our larger brain size compared to our body size, which also factors in.
What differences do you see between animal and human language? Let us know in the comments!
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What sets human language apart from animal language?
